hi, putting a chevy crate motor in my 61( 350/290hp)would like to use the original aluminum manifold, does anyone know of after-market carbs that would bolt right up? this car is going to be a fun driver, from the outside all original, under the hood im not to concerned about, just reliable and todays pump gas friendly. by the way, the last time i owned this car i was 17, now im 55, found it and bought it back. thanks, rich.
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Re: c1 2+4 carbs
Rich,
Exactly which intake manifold do you want to use?
Verle -
Re: c1 2+4 carbs
im sorry, the aluminum 2-4 barrel # 3739653, original to the car. i certainly would use original wcfb's, was told i cant afford them and even rebuilt units are not reliable with todays cheap fuel quality. thanks, richComment
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Re: c1 2+4 carbs
Rich,
About 1961 I welded aluminum plates to my manifold, milled larger throttle holes and drilled the plates to bolt up AFB's. This was before the aftermarket made such an intake.
You could make adapters for Edelbrock carbs and bolt them to your intake.
I don't know of any reason WCFBs could not be made to work properly with modern gasoline.
Hopefully someone will speak up with their current experience with WCFBs.
VerleComment
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Re: c1 2+4 carbs
I forgot to mention.... If you are not going to get the car judged you don't have to have the "correct numbers" carburetors. Other WCFBs will work and will be a lot cheaper.
VerleComment
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Re: c1 2+4 carbs
Rich,
As you probably know, the original aluminum manifold was designed to work with WCFB "square bore" carbs which have a footprint unlike anything else on the market today. So to mount modern carbs you will have to use adapter plates. Moreover, most throttle butterflies are too big and will be restricted by the stock openings therefore requiring that you "hog out" the figure 8 webbing on the manifold (with a little looking you can find one of those relatively cheap as not many want them). And even then beware; the combination of adapter plates, modern carbs, and air cleaners all add height and may cause hood interference problems. Things get tight under there!
If you want to go all modern consider an older Edelbrock C-26 dual quad manifold. These will accomodate most new carbs and more importantly allows for an oil fill tube through the top front like the OEM version does. This is important as virtually every other modern manifold does not have this provision requiring that you cut a hole in the stock valve cover for oil fill (more time and money). Note too that modern carbs have a wider air horn throat (5-1/8" vs 4-1/4" on the WCFB) so the OEM style air cleaner will not fit.
I have a 1961 dual quad and went through the same evaluation you are now considering. I tried mocking up all types of combinations but in the end I went back to an OEM 2x4 manifold with two WCFB professionally rebuilt clones set up exactly for the 245hp configuration (can be built for 270hp too). It is all mounted on a freshly rebuilt date-correct 283 engine. I also installed the stock 2x4 air cleaner. Besides looking original everything fits as designed (including the stepped accelerator linkage). The entire set up cost around $2000 which was not cheap but then again what is on a vintage car?
Note that I had some initial flooding problems with the front carb but after resetting the float height (twice) and getting everything perfectly in tune it is now the sweetest running engine I have ever heard. Most satisfying is that it starts right up hot or cold and performs well from idle to WOT. I absolutely love driving the car.
So my advice is to give it all careful consideraration before you start plunking down good money for modern carbs etc. that may give you a lot of headaches before you are finished.
Hope this helps!
MikeComment
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Re: c1 2+4 carbs
Rich,
Look on the Summit Racing site at their dual quad Edelbrock aluminum manifold with twin Edelbrock 500 cfm carbs package. It is a very smooth running, good looking, and reliable setup, if originality is not a concern. You cannot mount the original air filters to them - the neck diameter is different. No one will mistake it for correct carbs, but it seemed you were just looking at reliability.
As others said, I believe there is no compatibility problem between the original WCFBs and todays fuel. What was probably meant was that it can be a chore to initially get all the adjustments set up. But when properly set up, they are just fine.
You could also consider "clones" regularly advertised on EBay if you wish to save some cost. Check the archives though for comments on particular dealers. Some folks say there is one to avoid.
David B.Dave, 1969 427, 1957
Previous: 1968 427, 1973 454Comment
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Re: c1 2+4 carbs
thank guys for the info, i also have seen the clones on e-bay, just not sure. i like the idea of the c-26 edelbrock possibility and i will save the original intake for when and if i ever sell the car. be well guys, richComment
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Re: c1 2+4 carbs
Rich,
I will email you a picture of an Edelbrock setup so you can see what it would look like.
David B.Dave, 1969 427, 1957
Previous: 1968 427, 1973 454Comment
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Re: c1 2+4 carbs
Rich,
I have the Edelbrock dual quad setup on my 1960 and amd very happy with the setup. As for the air cleaner - you can get the original 2X4 aircleaner to work with this set-up with some work. I bought one off of ebay (needs to be the unit with a replaceable element), fabricated a new bottom plate out of flat stainless steel stock to fit the AFB carbs, used 1 inch spacers from Mr Gasket to raise the plate above the accelerator pumps and finally used longer air cleaner hold down bolts bent to match the hole locations on the air cleaner cover. It was not that hard to do and looks great. bretComment
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